I am in awe today as I continue to read through (and hope to finish) some recommended reading for my studies this year. One paragraph stands out…
One day as Rabbi Akiva was shepherding his flocks, he noticed a tiny stream trickling down a hillside, dripping over a ledge on its way toward the river below. Below was a massive boulder. Surprisingly, the rock bore a deep impression. The drip, drip, drip of water over the centuries had hollowed away the stone. Akiva commented, “If mere water can do this to hard rock, how much more can God’s Word carve a way into my heart of flesh?” Akiva realized that if the water had flowed over the rock all at once, the rock would have been unchanged. It was the slow but steady impact of each small droplet, year after year, that completely reformed the stone.
Walking in the Dust of Rabbie Jesus – by Lois Tverberg
The above passage got me thinking through all the times I have spent time reading and memorizing the word of God for myself. I went through Sunday school as a young girl, bible college in my older teens, running and facilitating programs for new Christians for a couple of decades along with counselling studies and this year doing more online studies to continue taking in as much as I can.
But in all that, God has in a way been encouraging me in that ‘Drip feeding’ that has enriched me and brought me to who I am today! What a marvel, that little by little my choices at the time may not have seemed much but God has most certainly been ordering my steps.
The steps of a [good and righteous] man are directed and established by the Lord, And He delights in his way [and blesses his path]. – Psalm 37:23 AMP
Back in the early half of the 1990’s God was certainly orchestrating things for me, I just was not aware of how big they were and where they would lead.
Sometime into church life, we were enjoying a Sunday fellowship lunch together in a large hall, and at each table, there were probably 20 or more people! During the distribution of boxes of chicken & chips, one lady at church, sitting at my lunch table, who had recently been on a visit to London, shared on a new program she had participated in while there and said how good it was & that our church should do it! (Alpha Course) Straight away, she looked down at ‘me’ (6 people down on the opposite side of lunch table) and said, “You should so do this Kim” – my reaction was ‘Woah whatever.’ It was so out of the blue, and this incident only stands out to me now because God knew back then what was in store for me.
Quote from ‘Door of Hope’ by Kim Stanfield
Looking back now, I not only gleaned from sharing with so many individuals on their journey of salvation but also grew in my own walk with keeping up on digging deeper into the word to know I was passing on to others, God's truth for their circumstances. Definitely a big learning curve during those years.
These foundational courses were vitally impacting to participants. What stole my heart and fuelled my passion was the ‘Holy Spirit’ Weekends. We would take them away for the transformation of their hearts for so much more of God’s power and revelation for them to be equipped in doing all God called them to be. This spark that lit them on these weekends away was what then propelled them into service for Kingdom purpose and higher spheres of influence for future God appointments. Once again, God not only prepared me for this period but equipped me as well.
Quote from ‘Door of Hope’ by Kim Stanfield
I am blown away by the complexity of God’s master plan to see not only our lives grow in him but how he also weaves in, by using us into the lives of others to see his transformation made perfect in Him! My devotion Scripture for today, says it all!
‘God… will not forget your work and the love you have shown him as you have helped his people and continue to help them’ – Hebrews 6:10